[This is an excerpt, consisting of the main bulk of the
letter, from correspondence by Murphey with his
daughter dated January 12,
1989.It follows up on a
discussion they had had of “the meaning of life.”It is included here because it supplements
his discussion of that subject in several of his other writings.For a list of those other writings, see the
caption that appears on this Web site at the head of his “unpublished work” on
“The Affirmatives of Liberal Religion,” which is item U5 here.]

Elaboration on “The Meaning of Life”

I’ve made a
copy of the final paragraphs of my article in The Occasional Review– the ones that were omitted when the main
part of the article was published, and then were published as a postscript in
the next issue.They speak briefly of my
own views on “the meaning of life.”In
the article, I had been critical of the views of three psychologists – Maslow, Frankl and Branden – because each asserted some source of value
other than a God
and other than human consciousness.

The subject
of “what, then, is the meaning of
life?” deserves a lot more attention than the few paragraphs I devoted to
it.At the end of my article, I say
“there is meaning in life through our own affirmation as living beings of its
value to us,” although earlier I say “it is just as human to detest life as it
is to cherish it.”Why should our
reaction be one rather than the other?This
is a question of the greatest importance – but one that it’s easy to fall into
platitudes about while discussing.Here,
at least, are some of the thoughts that come to my mind about it:

1.Ayn Rand’s books
are excellent on the subject of the meaning of life (despite her flaws in many
things).In her book
The Romantic Manifesto she talks about
“the sense of life” that differs among people.This seems to me to be an important concept, since it relates meaning to
our own will and outlook and inner strength.Her novels Anthem and
Atlas Shrugged are monuments to a
creative spirit.Viktor Frankl’sMan’s Search
for Meaning is also splendid (even though I criticized it in terms of
technical philosophy). [Note in2005: I have less appreciation for
Franl's book now, after yet another reading, because it seems to me to lack
authenticity.This is due to its lack of
specific description and to Frankl’s very evident
lack of concern about his fellow inmates, whom he evidently made no effort to assist, in
the concentration camp.]

2.In our conversation, we talked about how,
when all is said and done, it is love that remains as most meaningful and
important.On the flight home I thought
that this should actually be cast in broader terms – not just as a love for
people who are most dear, even though that is enormously significant, but as a
love for the specifics that have formed the whole rich texture of our
individual existence.What I mean is
such things as my love for IcyCaveCanyon up at PalmerLake or the view of Mt.Sneffels
near Ouray.I love Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony and Wagner’s Tannhauser.And every bit as much I love the search for
understanding in all the areas of study that have attracted me.I hesitate to say what it is that you love,
since these things are very personal.I
would be surprised if you have not invested something of yourself in your
favorite teddy bears (just as I’ll always have a special place in my heart for
a bean bag and a rag doll I had when we lived in Miami
[age 1 to 7]).And, despite all the
hassle, there should always be excitement within you about Washington.These are just examples – there’s much more.

3.I am not sure that these loves would be
enough by themselves, though, if I didn’t draw meaning from something larger
and, to me, more permanent.The
circumstances of my own life gave me a lifetime commitment to a set of ideals.When we went to Mexico
[when I was seven], I learned to love what this country had always been thought
to stand for.(Of course, it took me a
number of years to find out how imperfectly people actually carry out any
ideal; and how the ideal is in parta
description of real people and events, and in part a life-giving myth.)

It is
probably impossible for you to understand that ideal, much less with the
passion I’ve felt.Since long before you
were born, the deep hatreds that the intellectual culture bears toward the main
society have caused almost all films and literature to drum home the message:
“There is no American ideal – only brutality and ugliness.”

The
question for you, and for your and subsequent generations, will be whether you
will accept this at face value as a true depiction of what America stands
for.I see it as mainly false, since I
don’t believe that it has ever been true that brutality and ugliness have made
up the core of American life.For the
future, it is a question of whether, as tarnished as the ideal has become, you
can rediscover and reassert it.You need
your own freshly discovered “life-giving myth” that you make the central motor
of your own being and of the country’s continuing life.

4.This leads to the observation that the
meaning of life must come not just from each individual’s seeking – but from a
cultural texture, a common and shared set of values and of
things-that-are-valued.All true
“conservatives” would tell us that – and it’s true.The answers to the “meaning of life” are only
in part to be found on an individual level.

5.One last thought that comes to mind about the
meaning of life has to do with “the need to hang tough.”Most of the ancient philosophies (and
especially stoicism) considered life so precarious that the only thing that
could ultimately be counted on was the nobility of the human being when all
else is stripped away.This relates, of
course, to Ayn Rand’s “sense of life.”The ancients braced themselves to be noble
even if everything crumbled around them.This was an act of will – a determination to set their own terms for
existence.

This
toughness is vital, since tragedy is inherent in life.The ******s have to be inwardly tough to
handle *******’s death and *******’s drug problems.Bud and Carol have to have carried a great
burden of pain with the loss of Margot and then of Carol.And even if we’re lucky and avoid those kinds
of losses, the very fact that we’re all mortal means the gradual emptying of
the world of the people we love.

But as true
as all this is, must tragedy define our sense of life?Is it what should form us?It would be a morbid sense of life that would
say so, especially in the United States
in our generations.There is so much
more!

There’s a
lot more to say, and maybe you’ll have some thoughts to share with me…..